Map: Bus stops might get ADA compliance upgrades

Leftover money considered for the 25% of Sioux Falls stops considered inadequate for people with disabilities

Jan. 23, 2013

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Charles Santee waits for the Sioux Area Metro bus this month along Shirley Avenue. Mayor Mike Huether says the city should know next month how much money it can commit to compliance for bus stops. / Jay Pickthorn / Argus Leader

By the numbers

Riders on the Sioux Area Metro and paratransit systems, 2008-2012. (The cost per passenger for SAM fixed routes is $3.36; for paratransit, $23.26.)

City leaders in Sioux Falls will recommend spending leftover capital money to ensure that more bus stops are accessible to people with disabilities.

An ongoing review of the city’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act shows that one-quarter of the city’s bus stops don’t meet the federal standard, according to consultants hired in 2011 to perform a citywide audit of public facilities.

The law requires cities to develop a five-year plan to make sure that disabled people can use its services. The city last reviewed its ADA compliance a decade ago, assistant city attorney Colleen Moran said.

Overall, Sioux Falls is doing well, consultant Jim Felakos told the City Council at a recent informational meeting. But the city’s transit system has the most potential for improvement.

“(The city) had not really put a number on it previously,” Felakos, a lawyer and disability advocate from New York, said Thursday. “When we figured out it was that high, we started working on a plan to go about clearing that up.”

It’s not yet known how much leftover capital the city has, though Mayor Mike Huether said those figures should be available next month.

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Landing pads needed

Some bus stops don’t have sidewalks; others lack the concrete pads or curb cutouts. This causes problems for residents such as Charles Santee, who is in a wheelchair.

“I think their estimate is low,” said Santee, a familiar face at city transit board meetings.

Santee, who rides the bus three to five times per week, said he knows of several stops that would benefit from safer crosswalks and more landing pads for wheelchairs.

“My current pet peeve is 37th and Shirley, I think it is,” he said, because the sidewalk is higher than his wheelchair footplate and there’s not a safe area to cross the street.

The consultants began their review in 2011. Moran said they started with transit because of a citizen complaint; the city received four formal complaints about transit accessibility between 2002 and 2012.

Mike Cooper, the city’s director of planning and building, said they’ve known about the problem for awhile. City crews have been upgrading each problem bus stop as regular construction allows, he said.

“What we’ve been hearing now is, maybe it’s time to be more aggressive to get these done more quickly,” he said.

Paratransit switches

Many people with disabilities use the city’s paratransit system, which is much more expensive to maintain. Bringing more fixed-route stops into compliance, then, would allow paratransit riders to switch over if they chose, potentially saving the city a lot of money.

The cost per passenger is about seven times greater for the paratransit system, according to city figures.

“When we look at the cost of our paratransit — we’re trying to get more and more people who are borderline paratransit users to be able to use our SAM system,” said Councilor Dean Karsky, who supports using some of the leftover 2012 capital budget to bring the city’s bus stops up to code. “Anything we can do to make that better, we have to do.”

Huether said he’ll recommend using some of the extra money for transit upgrades, a move supported by councilors at the informational meeting. While the city’s at it, Councilor Greg Jamison said, it should look at creating more space for buses to pull off on busy roads.

“If we are going to consider improving some of those access points to make them ADA compliant,” he said, “we really should consider restructuring them so the bus gets out of traffic, as long as we’re pouring concrete.”

The city finance office should know how much leftover capital the city has by next month, Huether said.

Felakos said a draft report of the audit will be available within the next few months, and Moran said they expect to have a final report this summer.